Billionaire Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov sold the Brooklyn Nets for $ 2.3 billion in 2019 under pressure from Vladimir Putin to prove his loyalty, according to a new report.
“Putin has strongly offered to sell the Nets,” and Prokhorov risks losing his fortune in Russia if he refuses, a source close to the situation said. New York Post in a report on Tuesday.
Prokhorov, a financial tycoon and precious metals tycoon worth about $ 11.4 billion, first sold a 49% stake in Nets to Alibaba CEO Joseph Tsai for $ 1 billion in 2019.
The following year, he sold Tsai his remaining 51 percent stake for $ 1.35 billion, in addition to landing the Barclays Center arena for $ 1 billion in the largest deal for an American sports team.
The presumed reason for the sale? “You can’t be pro-Russian and have an NBA team,” said another source who knows Prokhorov.
Prokhorov’s representatives did not immediately respond to a query from DailyMail.com, but a spokesman for the billionaire categorically denied that he was under pressure to sell in a statement to the Post.
Billionaire Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov sold the Brooklyn Nets for $ 2.3 billion in 2019 under pressure from Vladimir Putin to prove his loyalty, according to a new report
Prokhorov was seen with Putin in 2014 at an award ceremony in the Kremlin. The billionaire, who is 6 feet 8 feet tall, made his fortune from finances and precious metals
“Mikhail said years before Joe Tsai appeared that he was open to discussing the Nets,” the spokesman said.
“He was not pressured by anyone to sell, unless you mean the ‘pressure’ of the attractive offer he received for the team and the arena at the time.”
At the time Prokhorov sold the Nets, Russia was facing pressure and sanctions over Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Although Prokhorov was not subject to US sanctions, he was named as one of many “Russian oligarchs” under the Anti-America Opposition to Sanctions Act, signed in 2017 by former President Donald Trump.
Acquaintances told the Post that the NBA was relieved when Prokhorov sold the team because the league feared control over their decision to approve its ownership in the event of tensions with Russia.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week and subsequent massive Western sanctions, Prokhorov’s decision to sell the team now seems far-sighted.
At the time Prokhorov sold Nets, Russia was facing pressure and sanctions over Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Prokhorov, a financial tycoon and precious metals tycoon worth $ 11.4 billion, first sold a 49% stake in Nets to Alibaba CEO Joseph Tsai (above) for $ 1 billion in 2019.
If he had retained his property, he could now find himself in the situation of Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who owns the British Premier League team Chelsea.
After the Russian invasion, Abramovich is reportedly trying to sell the team in the face of a potential asset freeze.
Representatives of Chelsea and Abramovich did not dispute the Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Vis, who said that he received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich along with three other people.
“Abramovich wants too much at the moment,” Vis told the Swiss newspaper Blick.
Abramovich never had British citizenship and made his fortune by selling assets purchased by the state during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He categorically denies being close to the Kremlin or doing anything that deserves sanctions.
“He was not pressured by anyone to sell, unless you mean the ‘pressure’ of the attractive offer he received for the team and the arena at the time,” said a spokesman for Prokhorov.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its seventh day, the British government has not yet said whether Abramovich will be included among the wealthy Russians who will be subject to sanctions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was “inappropriate” to comment on individual cases when he was asked in the House of Commons why Abramovich was not yet facing sanctions.
Chelsea, the reigning European champions, owe Abramovich more than $ 2 billion in loans after 19 years of injecting money to make the club one of the most successful in Europe.
Parliamentary privilege was used by Labor lawmaker Chris Bryant to say in the House of Commons on Tuesday that Abramovich was already seeking to sell property in London, speculating that “he fears not being sanctioned”.
Bryant added: “The danger is that Mr Abramovich has sold everything until we get to his sanction.”